Soil Engineering awarded Thornley and Deaf Hill Specialist Drilling Contract by the Coal Authority
The Coal Authority have concluded the tender process for their latest round of deep mine water monitoring wells in the North East of England, awarding the contract for the Thornley and Deaf Hill works packages to Soil Engineering.
Following a detailed planning stage, the drilling works will commence in a matter of weeks.
The works are intended to allow monitoring of mine water behaviour within workings associated with the former Trimdon (Deaf Hill) and Thornley Collieries. Deaf Hill will target the Hutton Seam, whilst Thornley aims to intersect workings in the Five Quarter (Yard) seam.
With high-quality core recovery and accurate targeting required for the successful delivery of these works, Soil Engineering aim to build on the successes of recent similar work for the Coal Authority in South Wales. Both Thornley and Deaf Hill will see similar works undertaken, targeting roadways in deep mine workings at between 150m and 250m below ground. Coring will be undertaken from close to surface to provide a detailed geological record and allow improved modelling of the sites. This will also allow geological markers to be interpreted to assist in precise planning of the boreholes’ eventual designs as they pass through shallower worked zones. Multiple strings of casing will be installed as the borehole progresses to allow individual aquifers to be isolated, providing segregation between the Coal Measures strata and the overlying Permian. The headline photograph shows similar deep wells being drilled by Soil Engineering in the past.
The overall programme of works is anticipated to take up to four months to complete, in order to accommodate landowner requirements at each of the drilling locations. The contract will be administered from our Leeds office, and will employ our Eijkelkamp Fraste XL140 Drilling Rigs in order to deploy large casing diameters at depth.
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